Toothpicks versus toothbrushes

[Elga]

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #105 "Compound words with tooth", question 9

"I can't seem to find the new tube of ......... that I purchased from the supermarket yesterday."

(a) toothbrush
(b) toothpick
(c) toothpaste

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #105 "Compound words with tooth", answer 9

"I can't seem to find the new tube of toothpaste that I purchased from the supermarket yesterday."

Correct answer: (c) toothpaste

Your answer was: correct
_________________________

I think the right answer is "toothpicks" rather than "toothbrushes".

Elga

[Alan]

Hi,

You said:

[Tae_Way]

i know toothpaste is the right answer. But why not toothpick?

[Pamela]

The collocation 'tube of toothpicks' seems weird to me. Tube is used for containing liquids... As for 'toothpicks' you can use 'box', for example

[Yankee]

You might possibly be able to find toothpicks in some sort of tube somewhere, but it's not a standard type of packaging for toothpicks and, as Pamela said, it's not a typical collocation.

However, I think it's safe to say you will never find "a tube of toothpick" (i.e. one toothpick packaged in a tube).

[Saneta]

Please explain:'I can't seem to find..' Can't it be simply: 'I can't find...'??

[Conchita]

[Yankee]

Hi Saneta

The expression "can't seem to (do)" is idiomatic. It means "be apparently unable to (do)". In the test sentence, the sense I get from "can't seem to find" is an emphasis of the idea that "even though I've tried to find it, I cannot".